Searching for the truth Issues 28 - Documentation Center of Cambodia

Searching for the Truth ⎯ HISTORY
widespread. I would argue that after demonizing and
dehumanizing the “enemies,” routinizing violence and
unleashing the interrogators’ hatred, torture was doled
out in substantial portions at S-21 with no thought for
the pain it caused or, as far as the “truth” was concerned,
its value compared to that of “doing politics.”
The Interrogators’ Notebook
The relation of torture to “doing politics” that
the officials at S-21 desired is spelled out in a handwritten,
unsigned notebook prepared at the prison
between July and September 1976, with doodles dating
from 1978 on the closing pages. The notebook may
have been initiated by an S-21 cadre, perhaps one of
those purged in 1976 or 1977, and lost or abandoned
for a couple of years. In the pages that relate to doing
torture and doing politics, the notes stress that: “We
must take the view that the question of keeping
[prisoners] alive or asking for their papers or killing
them is decided on for us by the Party. That is, we do
whatever we can, so long as we get answers. The use
of torture is a supplementary measure. Our past experience
with our comrades the interrogators has been that they
fell for the most part on the side of torture. They
emphasized torture instead of propaganda. This is the
wrong way of doing things; we must show them the
proper way to do them.”
The notes go on to suggest that while torture is
inevitable, its use should be delayed in many cases
until after a valid confession has been obtained:
“The enemies can’t escape from torture; the
only difference is whether they receive a little or a lot.
While we consider torture to be a necessary measure,
we must do politics [with them] so they will confess
to us, [but] it’s only when we have forced them via
politics to confess that torture can be used. Only when
we put maximum political pressure on them, forcing
them by using politics to confess, will torture become
effective. Furthermore, doing politics makes the
prisoners answer clearly, whether or nor the use of
torture follows.”
The passage suggests that torture should be
used and indeed became “effective” after confessions
were obtained, seemingly acknowledging that
Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam)
Number 28, April 2002
workers were going to torture prisoners anyway and
that perhaps some tortures carried out as medical
experiments might best he performed after documentation
was complete. The passage also implies that torturing
prisoners might be a bonus for S-21 workers after a
confession had been obtained. But what is meant by
“effective” remains unclear. The notebook goes on to
provide hints about tactics that interrogators might
employ to propagandize, beguile, and disarm the
prisoners without torturing them, and adds:
“One objective of doing torture is to seek answers
from them, and not to make us happy. It’s not done out
of individual anger, out of heat. Beating is done to
make them fearful, but certainly not to kill them.
Whenever we torture them we must examine their
health beforehand, and examine the [condition of the]
whip as well. Don’t be greedy and try to hurry up and
kill them.”
The passage suggests that torturing prisoners
made some interrogators “happy,” while others freely
acted out of “heat” or were in haste to kill the Party’s
“enemies.” Moreover, provided that the whips were in
acceptable condition, beating relatively healthy
prisoners almost, but not quite, to the point of death
was considered fair. None of this violence is surprising,
given the wholesale dehumanization of prisoners and
the culture of the prison, but it is chilling to see it so
dispassionately written down. Almost as if its author
were aware of overstepping a limit, the document then
backs off and adds sanctimoniously:
“You must be aware that doing politics is very
important and necessary, whereas doing torture is
subsidiary to politics. Politics always takes the lead.
Even when doing torture, you must also constantly
engage in propaganda.”
(Continued in the May 2003 issue)
___________________
David Chandler is Professor Emeritus of History at
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. He is the
author of A History of Cambodia (1996), Facing the
Cambodian Past: Selected Essays, 1971-1994 (1996),
and Brother Number One: A Political Biography of
Pol Pot (1992).
23
100 100 100 100 100 100 50 50 50 50
Black
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan